Teacher
quality is an important factor in improving student achievement. As such, policymakers
have constructed a number of different credentials to identify high quality teachers.
Unfortunately, few of the credentials used in developing countries have been validated in terms of whether teachers holding
such credentials actually improve student achievement). In this study, we
employ a student-fixed effects model to estimate the impact of teacher
credentials on student achievement in the context of the biggest education
system in the world: China. We find that having a teacher with the highest rank a credential based on annual assessments
by local administrators) has positive impacts on student achievement relative
to having a teacher who has not achieved the highest rank. We further find that
teacher rank has heterogeneous impacts, benefiting economically poor students
more than non-poor students. However, other credentials whether the teacher attended college or held teaching
awards) have no impact on student achievement.